Buying from Germany?

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blackdog
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Buying from Germany?

Post by blackdog »

Hi there,
Just wondering if anyone's had experience of buying components from Germany and if so, which companies would you recommend?

A lot of decent touring kit is thankfully still made in Germany and with the Euro at a relative low point (still not low 'though) it makes sense to buy from overseas. To the best of my knowledge warranties are treated the same as it's been purchased within the European Union.

Any pitfalls or comprehensive moral objections?!

Cheers.
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robgul
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Re: Buying from Germany?

Post by robgul »

I've bought loads of stuff from roseversand.de - website in English - good range of mainstream brands + own brand stuff - top service (2- 3 days) ... downsides now are the Euro rate ... and there is a charge of, IIRC, E12 for UK delivery (we've grouped an order between a few of us in the past)

Recommended!

Rob
E2E http://www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk
HoECC http://www.heartofenglandcyclingclub.org.uk
Cytech accredited mechanic . . . and woodworker
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NUKe
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Re: Buying from Germany?

Post by NUKe »

I've just bought a dynamo hub and light from a German company called Rose. And a very pleasant experience too. the site has an english option and you can price in pounds or Euros goods take about 3 days from order to arrive. correspondence was in English. For the dynamo lighting they worked out far cheaper than English stores. I did offer SPA in Harrogate the chance to price match as I felt guilty buying abroad in recession times, but they politely declined.

I can't think of any pitfalls compared to English internet sites. If your order is small though do watch postage costs as this can wipe out savings
Rose was 6 pounds but the size of the order and the fact that the saving were in the region of 50 pounds compared to purchasing the same items in the UK and the internal Uk postage would have been as much . I've seen 12 on other sites though.
NUKe
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tatanab
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Re: Buying from Germany?

Post by tatanab »

I've used Bike24 http://www.bike24.com/ several times for parts cheaper than in UK or not available here.
blackdog
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Re: Buying from Germany?

Post by blackdog »

Thanks everybody.
I've come across bike24 but not roseversand so that's particularly useful. Reassuring to know transactions have been trouble free as well. My up and coming big purchase is a Rohloff hub and depending upon the model you can seemingly save something in the region of £250 by buying direct from Germany.

Seems like a no brainer really. Especially as there are no pangs of guilty in not buying from SJS!

Cheers.
willem jongman
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Re: Buying from Germany?

Post by willem jongman »

I mostly buy from www.meilenweit.net, who are a specialist cycle touring shop, or from my own Dutch framebuilder www.m-gineering.nl who is also very competititve.
Willem
mike
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Re: Buying from Germany?

Post by mike »

It never crossed my mind to look at mainland europe to by stuff from. I've just bought a saddle and loking on 'bike24' I could have saved £10 and that is with the postage. Definitly include that in my next search for a purchase, specially as you say it was hassle free.
willem jongman
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Re: Buying from Germany?

Post by willem jongman »

Much of this has to do with changes in exchange rates. The Euro has declined due to Greek financial irresponsibility, and as a result a Brooks saddle that was imported into Germany a while ago can now be bought back for a different price. Importers also do not like to change prices in response to sudden and temporary exchange rate changes. So much of this is transitory. A while ago the pound was much lower (and closer to tis real value). That made it very cheap for us in Europe to buy e.g. Hilleberg tents in the UK. More generally, however, and over the long run, many bike parts have been rather cheaper in Europe, and in Germany in particular. Also look at the price and quality of bikes from makes like Fahrradmanufaktur, Cube or Stevens. Their better bike components such as Rohloff, Schmidt, Magura, or B&M are in fact also still actually made in Germany, for German wages, under German labour conditions and with German welfare. Tubus is the only of these brands that I can think of that is now made in China.
Willem
blackdog
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Re: Buying from Germany?

Post by blackdog »

Spot on Willem. Thanks for a couple of great recommendations.

Your comments about the fluid nature of exchange rates and value of goods is also very accurate. Germany has rightly held on to it's manufacturing base which sadly in the UK we've been happy to give away in the name of short term profit and disposable consumerism.

Cheers, Jon
andrew g
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Re: Buying from Germany?

Post by andrew g »

Roseverand and Rose are the same, it's a massive German warehouse style retailer. Met a nice German couple a couple of times on holidays who had the Red Bull bikes and they were very nice and some look good vfm.
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robgul
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Re: Buying from Germany?

Post by robgul »

andrew g wrote:Roseverand and Rose are the same, it's a massive German warehouse style retailer. Met a nice German couple a couple of times on holidays who had the Red Bull bikes and they were very nice and some look good vfm.


Versand - means "mail order" in German

Rob
E2E http://www.cycle-endtoend.org.uk
HoECC http://www.heartofenglandcyclingclub.org.uk
Cytech accredited mechanic . . . and woodworker
john_brod
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Re: Buying from Germany?

Post by john_brod »

+1 for http://www.bike-discount.de/
I placed an order last Sunday, it shipped Monday and arrived Wednesday all present and correct :D
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hubgearfreak
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Re: Buying from Germany?

Post by hubgearfreak »

this shop only charged 9euro for a pair of rims. arrived quickly and he's happy with paypal

http://www.zweiradnetz.de/index.php?pag ... t&Itemid=1
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Buying from Germany?

Post by [XAP]Bob »

Recently used Bike24, happy with the service..
A shortcut has to be a challenge, otherwise it would just be the way. No situation is so dire that panic cannot make it worse.
There are two kinds of people in this world: those can extrapolate from incomplete data.
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anniesboy
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Re: Buying from Germany?

Post by anniesboy »

OK I see the need to save money,but when things need repair what happens then?
Further too much of this = fewer British bike shops
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